Norwin notebook: Girls wrestling team crowns 2 regional champs

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, March 9, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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The Norwin girls wrestling team had two champions at the PIAA Western Regional championship at Canon-McMillan and advanced four to the PIAA championships set for March 7-9 at Giant Center in Hershey.

Sophomore Josephine Dollman won a title at 142 pounds, pinning Grace O’Korn of Peters Township in the finals. Dollman recently won a WPIAL title.

Freshman Karsyn Champion pinned WPIAL runner-up Hannah Hornick of Seneca Valley at 148.

“I feel great,” Dollman said. “I feel like this weekend was a showing of how far I’ve come since last year. I had some injuries, but I’m back to where I was.”

Freshman Octavia Walker, another WPIAL champion, finished second at 170 pounds, while junior Abigail Hewitt placed third at 190 for the Knights.

Hockey playoffs

Norwin, the No. 4 seed in the PIHL Class 2A hockey playoffs, rallied for a 5-2 win over No. 5 Fox Chapel in the quarterfinals March 4.

With Fox Chapel (11-8-0-1) leading 2-1 midway through the third period, Aaron Varrati, Zach Singleton and Zayn Zeravica scored goals in a span of 2 minutes, 42 seconds to lead the Knights (11-7-0-2) to the win.

Norwin finished the regular season in fourth place in the 2A standings. The team’s 92 goals were fourth in the classification.

Sidun, Campbell take silver

Norwin wrestlers Landon Sidun and Nate Campbell were runners-up at the WPIAL Class 3A championships at Canon-McMillan.

Sidun, who came in as the No. 1-ranked 114-pounder in the nation, was upset by Butler’s Santino Sloboda, 5-4, in the finals.

Campbell, meantime, fell to Cooper Roscosky, 4-2, in the 189-pound final.

Sloboda got a reversal with two seconds left to defeat Sidun (38-2).

“Landon allowed Santino to dictate the pace,” Norwin coach Kyle Martin said. “Next week is a new tournament.”

Sidun and Campbell moved on to the PIAA Championships in Hershey.

Junior wrestling

Norwin sent 15 to the 10th annual junior high state championships at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown.

Riley Shaffer came home with a fourth-place finish at 147 pounds, while Colton Klipa also took fourth at 103, Dominic Butera was fifth at 124, and Nathan Gulibon finished sixth at 117.

Horvath signs

Norwin senior volleyball player Troy Horvath will continue his playing career at Lawrence Tech, a nationally-ranked NAIA program in Southfield, Mich.

College scene

Updates on Norwin athletes playing at the collegiate level:

Women’s basketball

Chatham: Sophomore forward Alyssa Laukus was selected as an All-PAC honorable mention. The Most Outstanding Player in the PAC Tournament after she averaged 14 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 blocks, Laukus had six blocks in the title game against Geneva. The Cougars (23-4) won, 77-50, and earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Marietta: Senior Olivia Gribble was named to the All-Ohio Athletic Conference Second Team. Gribble, who recently reached 1,000 career points, also made the second team as a sophomore. She was averaging 11.5 points and had 56 3-point field goals going into the NCAA Division III Tournament for the Pioneers (21-6).

Wrestling

Bucknell: Senior 133-pounder Kurt Phipps won his match with a decision, but the Bison fell to Princeton, 18-15. Phipps is ranked No. 14 in the country in his weight class.

Softball

Pitt: Sophomore shortstop Jake Kendro went 2 for 4 with a home run, four RBIs and three runs in the Panthers’ 19-9 win over Oklahoma. Kendro is a newcomer to the Panthers. He transferred from Tennessee.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

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